Take Me Instead
by SuperPrincessRosetta
Summary: After the events of Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser hated Rosalina for aiding his arch nemesis. In revenge he plans to hurt her in the worst possible way... When Mario finds out about this, he tries to help, but what good can he do and how can the damage be undone? Rated T for character death...
1. Prologue

Rosalina whispered quietly to herself as she gazed out on the stars. Her eyes looked glassy, as if she was seeing far more than the stars and planets that danced about her. No one, even Polari, could ever quite tell what she was saying, but they all had the theory it was some sort of old magical spells and such. After all, that _is_ what it took to rule over an entire _universe._

As the cosmic princess glanced out over the vast amount of galaxies beneath her space-bound castle, the Comet Observatory, her small (not to mention very busy) children bustled about. Unlike Rosalina, these children were not human. Oh no, these children were small, plump star children that all shared the name of _Luma._ All except the eldest, Polari, and a rather large and interesting one called Lubba. Each Luma had a nickname for itself, however. There was Goldie, Emerald, Aqua... too many to count. But one thing they all had in common, was that they loved their mother. And she loved them.

One might ask how she gained so many un-human children, or even _how_ exactly an ordinary girl became a princess that rules over the universe. Well, some believe she got her position from the gods above, or even that she herself is a goddess. No one is quite sure, and Rosalina would never _dare_ tell anyone how she came to be. But the story of how she met and able to connect with the Lumas is a rather sweet, simple story.

 _She was very small when she meet the littlest of her children, Her Baby Luma._

 _She was very kind, and very pure._

 _She loved her child with all her heart._

 _So the Gods gave her more._

 _Not ever could anything tare them apart._

 _Now they travel the stars together._

 _And no, they'll never stop._

 _She knows that her Lumas will always be there._

 _Because love is forever._

Her Baby Luma floated over to Rosalina, who had returned to her normal state.

"Mama, I love you so much." It whispered.

"I love you too." Rosalina replied. "And I'm never letting you go."

 _ **Ro**_

"GADD! IS IT FINISHED YET?!" Bowser roared as he walked into his dungeon.

There, Bowser had been keeping Professor E. Gadd for the past month so he could fix up a 'special potion' for him. _Why would I ever want to do that?_ was Gadd's reaction when Bowser proposed his idea to him. _Do it, or I'll burn your little 'mansion' to the ground!_ was Bowser's response.

"Y-Y-Yes sure, I-It's just about d-done." the professor stuttered, frighten by Bowser and his brutal tactics.

Bowser grabbed a test tube from a rack. "Will it kill?" Bowser asked darkly, gazing into the thick, black liquid inside the test tube.

"Y-Yes, it will if they e-eat it" Gadd said timidly, as he pointed to a rather large bin of starbits on the other side of the room.

Bowser grabbed a purple starbit, split it down the middle with his claws, and poured the black substance into it. He watched as the starbit slowly turned rotten, then chuckled lightly and very evilly to himself.

"I'm going to make that space witch pay for all she's done."

 ** _Ro_**

 **Gosh, I know this is just the first chapter and all, but I really _do_ apologize for it being _SO _ short. :( I'm really not used to typing up really long chapters, and I only had about and hour and a half to type this up, but that's no excuse. I _promise_ I will try and make chapter number 2 longer. Anyway, as always remember to review and tell me what you think.**

 **~Rosetta**


	2. I'll Hit Her Where It Hurts

**THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS CHARACTER DEATH and so do most chapters after it... I'm not good at writing sad moments, but I hope this can be a good tear jerker for you guys.**

 **~Rosetta**

"IS THAT ROCKET PREPARED FOR LIFTOFF?" Bowser yelled over the loud noise created by several of his koopa troopas brought crate after crate of starbits into a large blue rocket ship.

"Yes sure, but," Kamek began looking to Bowser somewhat fearfully, "Are you really _sure_ you want to do this? I mean, sure, you've done a _lot_ of bad stuff before and stooped to _really_ low levels to do it, but... _killing them?_ That's terribly harsh, I thin-"

"ENOUGH!" Bowser roared, interrupting Kamek. "I have to make her _pay_ for helping Mario. _And I'm going to hit her where it hurts._ "

Kamek scampered away from the mighty King Bowser, he went to E. Gadd, who was being kept in a cage, and asked him some questions.

"So what exactly _did_ you put in those starbits?" He asked, genuinely interested.

"It's a genetically engineered weapon of mass destruction, so-" He began, until he realized Kamek and his old magic didn't understand a word he was saying.

"It's a disease," he restarted, "so if one eats it from a starbit it will slowly spread and take out the others. It hasn't had time to be perfected, so it's going to affect each one just a little bit differently, but it _will_ kill." the professor finished darkly.

 **"We are prepared for liftoff."** a robotic voice on the speakers said. Kamek, being thoroughly frightened, decided he'd rather not watch the 'genetically engineered weapon of mass destruction' take to the skies.

 _ **Ro**_

 _ **~Three Days Later**_

It was the end to another rather long, hard day ruling over the universe. For Rosalina, her body finally felt tired enough to allow herself to get some sleep. However before bed, it was time to read.

"Let us begin," Rosalina said in a peaceful, relaxed tone.

As she began to read, Her Baby Luma munched down on a starbit hungrily. It was a purple one, his favorite. As he bit down he noticed how much more delicious this one was than usual. He also, however began to feel weaker. And he began to cough. Just a quiet, normal cough at first that later turned into a forceful, painful hacking as he spat up sticky black liquid.

As soon as Rosalina saw him spit, she threw down her story book and grabbed the Luma. It's normal shining white skin was a terrible tan and was no longer shining.

"Luma..." She grabbed him in a large hug, but felt him slipping away.

"Mama... I... I..." The Luma tried to speak but ended up spitting more sticky onto Rosalina's dress.

"I know, sweetie." she said, tears welling up in her almond-shaped eyes. "I love you too. But it's time to rest now." As the Luma's eyes began to flutter shut, Rosalina began to sing a soft, sweet lullabye *****.

 _"Sleep, my sweet one, resting in my lap,_

 _Sleep and snuggle close, for your final nap._

 _Sleep my little darling, sleep and close your eyes,_

 _Tonight you will shine bright with the stars in the sky,_

 _I love you, my child,_

 _Goodbye."_

Her Baby Luma closed his eyes, and Rosalina felt his spirit slip away. His body slowly turned to stardust in her hands, and tears began to drop from her eyes. The other Lumas looked at their mama, then at the pile of stardust in her hands, and starbits came from their eyes, too.

Rosalina flipped back her head, and she saw much, _much_ more than the ceiling of the Library. She saw a bright shimmering see of stars, and she saw Her Baby Luma going there to shine with the rest. The other Lumas looked into her eys and saw deep cyan pools of sorrow, pity, and loss. Polari grabbed a small urn from the shelf, and scooped up the stardust and poured it into the urn. The Lumas then left their mama, knowing that she needed to be alone.

When they got to the center of the Comit Observatory, Polari scooped the stardust out of the urn and threw it into space. "May the stars shine down on you." he said sadly.

As the Lumas watched the stardust dift into space, they could feel Rosalina inside the Library, silently crying. They could remember the only other time they had seen their mama cry. _Why are you crying?_ they asked. _I'm crying because I know my mother is sleeping under that tree!_ ***** she said. They remembered how she promised to never cry again after that.

That promise, however, was made to be broken.

 ** _Ro_**

 ***I totally don't know how to spell "Lullabye"**

 ***I can't remember exactly what Rosalina says in the storybook, I kind of just said what I remembered.**

 **Gosh, that chapter wasn't actually that much longer, was it? It sure felt longer. Oh well. You guys will just have to get used to short chapters from now on. Remember to review! ;)**

 **~Rosetta**


	3. We Need Some Help

Rosalina stayed inside the library, starring at the ceiling for a long time. She never moved, never made a sound... the Lumas were starting to wonder if something was wrong with her. She sat there for minutes, that turned into hours, that turned into days, and the days piled onto her like water over stones.

Every hour the Lumas would send someone in to check on her, to see if anything had changed. Nothing ever really did. It wasn't until another Luma was sick that she finally got up.

"It's okay! Hang in there Rubie!" Said Polari to the sick little Luma, a red one named Rubie.

"I-Ack!-I want mama..." Rubie said, coughing up the same sticky black liquid just like Her Baby Luma had.

They had all been gathered in the fountain, panicking over their sick sibling, when suddenly Rosalina burst through the door in a flurry of stardust.

"Rubie!" She yelled, grabbing her sick child. She felt her spirit was on the edge of leaving, and Rosalina wondered why Rubie hadn't just shut her eyes and let it all stop. It was almost like she was waiting for something... then Rosalina realized, _She was waiting for me!_

"Ma-mama..." Rubie muttered, and Rosalina closed her eyes and began to sing.

 _"The stars, they are glowing,_

 _brightly in the sky,_

 _and they're shining right upon us,_

 _on you and I._

 _Stars of every color,_

 _red and gold and blue,_

 _the stars, they may glow brightly,_

 _but not as bright as you."_

Half way through the song, felt Rubie's spirit leave, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a pile of stardust in her lap.

Once again, tears welled up in her eyes, and she scooped up the stardust into her cupped hands and went outside. When she got to the center of the Observatory, she threw the stardust into space and watched it float far, far away.

"May the stars shine down on you." she whispered.

There, standing in the Observatory, Rosalina suddenly felt overcome with grief and collapsed. A thousand thoughts were running through her head. _Why, why them?! They were so young, so innocent, so pure... What could've cause them to die?! Lumas don't die! Sacrifice, maybe... but not die!_ She cried, softly at first, that soon turned into a loud, painful wailing that made her hurt all over. She wanted them back! And what if she lost more? What would she do then? Was there evn a cause to all this...?

"what can we do?"

"Mama is in so much pain!"

"I miss Rubie!"

"I think I'll go to talk to mama-"

Several Lumas whispered until Polari cut one off and said, "No! Don't do that. Mother... she has to be alone... again."

"But mama needs help!"

"... I know where we can get help." Polari said firmly.

"Where? From who?"

Polari turned back to the large group of Lumas. "We need to call Mario."

 **So there's chapter 3! Next time, Mario comes into the picture! Exciting, yes? Also, the story _is_ going to get a little repetitive and maybe a bit boring after this, but don't worry, it's supposed to be like this. We have to get through a few more deaths before the main plot begins. Anyway, please remember to review, and see ya next time!**

 **~Rosetta**


End file.
